Rewriting History
by DG
Summary: Yay, update! Wow, I'm on a roll right now. Anyway, this time around, we have a nice mix of original and old material. Please enjoy.
1. Jake

Author's Note: Something went wrong with Tobias's thought quotes in uploading, deleting his statement, so I'm going to try and see if a different symbol with work.  
  
Chapter 1 Jake  
  
" Can we shoot?" I asked Menderash, making no attempt to conceal my words from the alien.  
" His Dracon cannon have longer range and greater power," Menderash reported to me grimly. " And his defensive fields have been enhanced. I doubt our cannon can penetrate them."  
" Thought so," I said in what everyone else would call my weirdly calm voice. I was scared. But the leaders can never show fear under pressure. " But we're faster."  
" Yes."  
" Okay." I took a deep breath. I looked around the bridge at everyone. At Tobias. At Marco. " What was it, Marco? 'Crazy, reckless, ruthless decisions'?" Marco nodded. I smiled. It was the same smile that Rachel would always give.  
" Full emergency power to engines," I said. " Ram the Blade ship." As the Rachel rolled forward towards the Blade Ship, I saw Marco sit down.  
" Jake, we're going to die, aren't we?"  
" Nothing new."  
" Sir, we're at optimum range for the ram," Menderash said.  
" Do it."  
My name is Jake. I am an Animorph. We were once charged with defending the Earth from an alien species called the Yeerks. Who's we? 'We' were Marco, Tobias, Cassie, Rachel and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. We called him Ax for short. Four years ago, an Andalite prince named Elfangor came to Earth with an Andalite warship to attack the Yeerk Pool Ship in orbit around Earth. They would have won, but the Yeerks had backup. The Blade Ship of Visser Three was hidden in the shadow of the moon. I hope you know what happened, but for those who don't, the Andalites lost. Elfangor came down to a construction site. Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and I was crossing through that construction site. Elfangor gave us the power to morph into any animal we touch. In the three years we fought the Yeerks, I became my dog Homer, a tiger, a green anole lizard, a fly, a rhino, a peregrine falcon, a killer whale, a beaver, an anaconda, and many other things. My brother was a Controller, though, so the fight was personal. A Controller is someone who is or in most modern cases, was controlled by a Yeerk. The Yeerks, in their natural state, are slugs. Just slugs, and they'd squeeze themselves through the ear canal of anyone they got their slimy slug selves, then take control. They conquered the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons this way. For nearly three years, we secretly fought the Yeerks, and they thought we were Andalite warriors who'd survived the destruction of the Dome Ship. They were wrong. Ax was the only true Andalite among us. Andalites in their natural forms have four eyes, four hooves, three slits for a nose, seven fingers on two weak hands attached to two arms, and no mouth. They talk by using thought-speak, which is what we use in morph. Oh, and did I mention the tail? The deadly scorpion-like tail? It can slice up someone faster than it take Michael Jordan to make a three-pointer. The Andalites gave the Yeerks their current powers, or rather, an Andalite prince named Seerow gave them the abilities. The Yeerks then took the Hork- Bajir homeworld, then the Taxxon world, then came for Earth. They'd already taken the Gedds, a species from their own homeworld. We fought them, but then, near the end of our fighting, the Yeerks figured out we were human, and we tried to get our families away from the Yeerks. We'd helped start a free Hork-Bajir colony, and we began living with them. Marco's mom and dad already lived with them, since before they figured us out, they learned that Visser One's former host was the mother of one of the so-called 'Andalite bandits' they'd been chasing. We got Cassie's mom and dad, Rachel's mom and sisters, and Tobias's amnesia-stricken mother. My mom and dad were taken by the Yeerks. Eventually, we chased them up into space. Rachel was on the Blade ship with my brother and Yeerks who'd been given the morphing power after Elfangor's blue box which gave us our morphing ability, but not before we gave several other kids, handicapped kids who most people would not realize were given the power. Rachel was killed, and the Yeerks on the Blade ship escaped. Rachel's body was dumped, and found days after the vast majority of the Yeerks surrendered. A monument was made in her honor, and a year passed before the promoted Visser One, formally Visser Three, the only Andalite-Controller who got promoted after the Visser One in Marco's mom's head was killed, was put on trial. Ax was promoted to a war-prince, and given command of an Andalite ship. Ax was captured by something called only 'The One.' The way the Yeerks on the Blade ship who'd also become servants of 'The One.' What were these guys, the Borg from Star Trek? Anyway, our ship, the Rachel, was now the only thing stopping 'The One' from accomplishing what the Yeerks didn't. And now, we were all going to die from it. As we flew towards the Blade ship, time seemed to slow down.  
[We're going to die, and no one will ever know. Seems a little ironic, doesn't it? The Yeerks tried to kill us for three years, and now we're killing ourselves,] Tobias said in thought-speak. Tobias was trapped in the morph of a red-tailed hawk. That's the drawback of Elfangor's gift. Two hours, and you're trapped in a morph forever.  
" Yeah, I know," I said, and closed my eyes, just waiting for my death. 


	2. Marco

Chapter 2 Marco  
  
My name is Marco. I came up with the name Animorph, and now I was about to die. Everyone else had their eyes closed. I watched my last few seconds of living. Just as the Rachel's nose hit the Blade ship, time froze. I don't mean is looked like it. I mean froze. The ship had already hit the Blade ship, and was frozen in mid-explosion.  
" Guys! Look!" I cried. Jake and Tobias looked over at me, then the veiwscreen.  
" Menderash, what's going on?" Jake asked. Menderash didn't say a thing.  
[There's only one person who could do this,] Tobias said.  
" The Ellimist," Jake sighed.  
NO, a voice said. NOT THE ELLIMIST.  
" What was that?" I asked. Suddenly, we weren't on the Rachel anymore. We were. I don't know how to describe it. It was like we were everywhere and nowhere, all at once.  
" I think I heard that voice before," Jake said.  
" What?" I asked, and heard Tobias echo me behind.  
" It was before the Helmacrons made the attempt to take over your body, Marco," Jake said.  
" Ugh, don't remind me. You know, Rachel told me that the only reason that I morphed cockroach that time was because I had rabies," I interrupted.  
" Marco, I went to bed, and when I woke up, I was twelve years later and the Yeerks had taken control of Earth. I destroyed the ray the Yeerks were building that would have turned the moon into a Kandrona producing moon. After I did that, I heard that voice," Jake said.  
YES. THAT WAS I. I AM THE BEING WHO EXPELLED THE BEING KNOWN AS CRAYAK OUT OF ONE GALAXY, AND UNWITTINGLY INTO YOURS. MY NAME IS UNPRONOUNCEABLE, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME CREATOR.  
" Creator. Great. This guy thinks he's God," I muttered.  
[Marco, shut up. If he thinks he's God, he's probably got a good reason,] Tobias growled.  
I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU LONG AGO EARNED THE CHANCE TO REDO EVERYTHING.  
" Redo everything? You mean from Day one?" Jake asked, " But the Drode offered me that once, and then he left without even trying."  
HE DID TRY. IT BROKE DOWN. BUT THAT WAS NOT THE WAY I WOULD CHANGE IT. THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED EVERYTHING. SUCH AS THE ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION OF ONE ANIMORPH. OR FINDING AXIMILI-ESGARROUTH- ISTHILL OR NOT. OR VISSER THREE BEING PROMOTED. HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO CHANGE ONLY ONE THING FROM THE BEGINNING. TAKE YOUR CHOICE.  
" What? What is he saying?" I asked.  
[He's saying we can change things from the beginning, like give us another Animorph from the moment Elfangor came to us to the day we rammed the Blade ship, and if things turn out well, we won't have rammed into the Blade Ship,] Tobias said. Jake turned to the two of us.  
" Guys, I won't do anything without your opinions here," Jake said.  
" Rachel's dead, but I agree with what she'd say. 'Let's do it'," I said.  
[We can do it all over again, but what good would it do for us?] Tobias asked.  
" We could get Rachel back with our choice," Jake said.  
" But how would that affect now? I say it should be another Animorph from the beginning," I said.  
" Cassie should be here," Jake said.  
WHAT I AM OFFERING WILL AFFECT HER AS WELL.  
As suddenly as we'd appeared here, Cassie was here.  
" What am I doing here?" Cassie asked. She noticed Jake, Tobias, and me.  
" J-J-JAKE!?" she cried, and ran into his arms.  
" It's me Cassie. It's me," Jake whispered.  
" But, what happened?" she asked. " I. I thought you were all going to die out there when you left Earth." Tears were streaming down her face, but both she and Jake didn't seem to even notice them.  
" Someone is offering us the chance to go back in time to a point we choose and alter time," Jake said.  
" We could get Rachel back?" Cassie asked, looking straight into Jake's eyes.  
" That's one possibility. We could do anything. This guy, the Creator, he wants to give us a chance," Jake explained.  
" Then I want to do it. Whatever you guys choose, I'll do it," Cassie said.  
" That's one for another Animorph from day one and one who doesn't care. What do you two say?" I asked.  
Tobias said one word. [Fight.]  
Jake nodded. " Unanimous," he said. We stood together, almost like the old days.  
VERY WELL THEN. YOU WILL HAVE NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THIS WORLD. THIS WORLD SHALL CONTINUE WITH PARALLEL VERSIONS OF YOURSELVES. FAREWELL.  
Whiteness overtook me, and I knew nothing. 


	3. Cassie

Chapter 3 Cassie  
  
We hooked up at the mall. I was there with Rachel.  
Rachel is my best friend. No one knows why, least of all either of us. We could not possibly be more different.  
Here are Rachel's priorities in order of importance: shopping and gymnastics.  
Me, I'm into animals.  
Rachel is every cover girl from every Mademoiselle or Seventeen you've ever seen. Tall, thin, blond hair and flawless complexion, and approximately four hundred shiny white teeth. To make matters worse, she can't just be written off as another fashion bimbo.  
She's not mean. She's not a snob. She is not a member of any clique. She is her own, one-girl clique. That's the power she has: to be everyone's vision of physical and intellectual perfection and not to care.  
Sometimes I wonder where she gets it from. Not the hair, or the clothing, or even her eerie ability to never be messy, dirty, or wet. I wonder where she gets the indifference. I wonder how she can have every boy in school throwing himself in her path, and be indifferent.  
Not that she's humble. No. You wouldn't call her humble. She knows she's special. But she's impatient with the whole idea of being popular or whatever.  
I get the feeling with Rachel that she's waiting. Impatient. Looking for something more. Moving through life in search of a very different destiny.  
Her sports are gymnastics and shopping. She knows she'll never be a great gymnast; she's already about twice as tall as the average gymnast. That part of her interests me but not as much of her shopping.  
See, it's not about the stuff with her. It's hunting.  
I could never be friends with someone who went out and hunted animals. Sorry, but people who want to shoot deer are not going to be my friends. But when I'm with Rachel at the mall I see the excitement in hunting: the combination of knowledge and instinct and the thrill of stalking and closing in for the kill.  
The girl makes the pursuit of a forty-percent-off sweater in just the right size and just the right color seem like a safari to track down a man- eating lion.  
" Twenty-five percent off at Express, that's fine," she said. " But, the same basic sweater, better mix of fabrics, forty percent off at Structure? Plus, the point is, this sweater goes with jeans on sale at The Gap or the jeans on sale at the department store, and the Express sweater only goes with The Gap jeans."  
" I know I'm going to be sorry I asked this," I said, " but how can one sweater not go with a pair of basically identical jeans?"  
Rachel gave me the look. The look of incredulity and confusion.  
" Cassie, you know I love you, but did you just get in from Uzbekistan?" she asked.  
" Yes. Yes, Rachel, I just flew in from Uzbekistan."  
" Shape. Color. Cut. Waistline." She shook her head in mock pity. " How do you expect to get through life without an appreciation of what goes with what?"  
" I expect life will just be one long struggle."  
Rachel laughed. No one was more amused by her obsession with shopping than she was.  
Like I said, Rachel was waiting for something else. She didn't know what. I sure didn't.  
" Don't look," I hissed. " It's Jake."  
" I can't look at my cousin?"  
" You can look, just don't look, that's all I'm saying."  
" You mean, don't look at him in a way that will someone convey to him that you are hot for him? That you want his lips pressed against yours? That you want his big, strong arms wrapped all around you?"  
" Yeah, Rachel, that's what I meant. That is exactly what I meant."  
Jake is cute. Not cute in a little itsy-bitsy he's-so-cute kind of way. He's a big guy. Not hulking big, just like he's two years older than he really is. He's also smart and funny and modest.  
I think he likes me. We sit together on the bus sometimes. Sometimes we seem to accidentally end up near each other at assemblies, or in class. He's never asked me out. I've never asked him out. Needless to say Rachel finds all this touching, funny, and completely idiotic.  
I asked her once, " Do you think he's okay with me being African- American and all?"  
She said, " Cassie, I've know Jake all my life. Believe me, he doesn't know you're black. That's how little he would care. Jake is the one guy out of a thousand who really does care about who you are, not what you look like."  
" So, how do I look?" I asked anxiously.  
" Like you should be singing eee-yi-eee-yi-oh. You're wearing Wal- Mart overalls with bird poop on the cuffs. You have no makeup on and there's dirt under your fingernails. that is just dirt, isn't it?"  
I looked down at my fingernails and tried to remember. " Probably dirt. Possibly manure."  
" Yeah, well, you compensate for your Old MacDonald clothing sense by being pretty, very smart, very cool, and the most completely real person I've ever met."  
" Thanks. Thanks for the last half, anyway."  
Jake was with his best friend, Marco. Marco and Jake were not as mismatched as Rachel and I, at least from what I knew. I don't know Marco much at all, just to say 'hi' to.  
He's small, especially alongside Jake. He has fairly long, dark hair and an olive complexion and a permanently amused expression.  
Marco is a comedian. Not a class clown, not a guy who wants to make the teacher mad. He just seems to think the world is funny. I guess a psychologist would call it a defense mechanism. His mom died a couple years ago. Anyway, maybe that's it. Or maybe he's just funny. Anyway, if Jake likes him he must be okay.  
Yeah, I don't sound too much like someone with a crush.  
There was a third guy with them. This kid named Tobias. He's kind of an unknown to me. He seems like he's kind of latched onto Jake. Jake is too nice to ever tell him to go away, and I could see he was trying to include Tobias in the conversation and all. But Tobias was still standing a little apart. Looking a little uncomfortable, trailing a little behind.  
As they left the arcade, a fourth guy ran up. I knew him well. You see, he's Rachel's twin brother, Greg. 


	4. Tobias

Chapter 4 Tobias  
  
" Hey guys!" Greg called. He turned to Rachel, who'd just stepped out of the department store next to the arcade.  
" Hey Greg," Jake said.  
" Hey couz. Rach, Mom says you need to be home in forty-five minutes. She said twenty, but I figured you'd need the extra twenty-five to lug all your new clothes home," Greg smiled. Rachel chuckled.  
" Hey, how come you laugh when he makes a joke, but not when I make one?" Marco asked.  
" Because he's funny. You're not," Rachel smirked. The rest of us laughed.  
" Sorry Marco," Greg smiled. He and Rachel were family, and I had to admit, I had a small, almost insignificant crush on Rachel. Small, almost insignificant, as in hard for me to keep it to myself without Marco joking about it and this girl at school named Darlene from learning and spreading it around school, becoming the latest gossip for the whole town.  
" So, you guys heading home? Don't we live in about the same direction from the mall? How's about we all go home together? I mean, it's nine thirty. The nuts are out," Greg said.  
" Hear that, Marco? You're family's out and on the run," Rachel joked.  
" Rach," Jake warned. Marco's mom died about two years ago, and his dad got real messed up about it. A bit like my family, I guess. The only thing is, he has his dad, who's someone who'd care if Marco just vanished. Me, I'm passed back and forth from my uncle here and my aunt on the other side of the country. My uncle wouldn't care if I died, he's a drunk, and my aunt would find someone else to do everything she wants to have done.  
" Sorry, Marco," Rachel said. So we walked out of the mall. There were two ways to get home. The long way, or as Marco calls it, the scenic route, or the short one, the way through the construction site. The construction site was supposed to be another mall, but the project was abandoned. Now, it was the perfect place for homeless people and ax murderers. But it was quicker to get through, and we sure could get home fast, especially with what Rachel had from the department stores.  
Obviously, we choose the short way, and took our chances with the ax murderers.  
We were about halfway through the construction site when it came. I saw something in the air and pointed.  
" Look," I said.  
" What?" Jake asked. He sounded distracted, like he'd heard a chain- saw behind us. Right.  
" Just look," I said. See, I was seeing a brilliant, blue-white light that scooted across the sky, going fast at first, too fast to be an airplane, then slower and slower. I shook my head.  
" I don't know," I said. Jake and I looked at each other. We both knew what we thought is was, but we didn't want to say it. Marco and Rachel would have laughed, we figured.  
But Cassie just blurted it right out. " It's a flying saucer!" Greg squinted.  
" No way. It's a low-flying airplane or secret government flying... thing... but not a spaceship," he said, in a tone that told me that he wasn't believing a word he was saying.  
" We gotta be seeing things," Jake muttered, and I had to agree. Sure, it was late, but if we said we were seeing alien spaceships, it would be like everyone we told would be saying 'Sure. Mind trying on this straight jacket?'  
" It's gonna land here," Rachel gasped. No one questioned her, since it was really just a statement of the obvious.  
" It's not really a flying saucer," Jake said. He was right. It was about the size of a school bus. The front end was a pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby winglike things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end.  
It seemed harmless. Harmless, as long as you ignored the mean-looking tail that curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a needle.  
" The tail; it's definitely a weapon," Jake said.  
" I'll drink to that," Greg muttered. While we were all gaping at the fact that there was a UFO landing right in front of us, it was coming closer. Greg squinted.  
" It looks like it's been in a fight," Greg said.  
" How can you tell? Maybe it's a design of all alien ship," Marco said.  
" Marco, if it's designed, then it shouldn't be sparking or burning," Greg shot back. Neither one had looked at the other during this conversation. I looked where Greg was looking. He was right. This ship had been in a fight.  
" If it was in a fight, shouldn't there be, like, debris crashing around here?" Cassie asked.  
" Maybe-" Greg's thought was interrupted as the ship landed. I could tell that there was something wrong in there. The landing was a little shaky.  
" We should go call someone. This is Letterman material for sure," Marco said. No one moved. It was our first alien ship, and no one wanted to leave while it was here.  
" Let's. try and talk to it," Rachel suggested.  
" How will they understand us? For that matter, how will we understand them?" Greg asked.  
" Everyone speaks English in Star Trek," Cassie chuckled.  
" Everyone is a human in makeup in Star Trek," Greg commented.  
" Please come out. We won't hurt you," I said soothingly.  
[I know.]  
Everyone jumped.  
" You all heard that, right? I'm not going crazy?" Jake asked.  
" You're already crazy, but I heard that," Marco gasped.  
" Can you come out?" I asked.  
[Yes. Do not be frightened.]  
" We won't," I said, truth and trust in every word.  
" Speak for yourself," Jake muttered. We giggled nervously. After all, after seeing a UFO and now its inhabitant was coming out. We were already scared by the fact that there might have been an ace murderer in the old site, now we were freaked. Scared? We were beyond scared. Some kind of door formed and opened, allowing the owner of this UFO to come out. Watching it was hypnotic.  
Then he appeared.  
He looked like a mythological centaur at the first glance. Then you see the blue-tan fur and the face. The face was almost normal (Human normal, anyway) but then you saw the three slits where a person's nose is. And then, there was the mouth issue. He had none. I'm serious. No mouth. Then you get to the eyes. He had two eyes, just like the rest of us. Then he had two more on stalks.  
Oh, and, just like the ship, he had a tail. A dangerous looking one. If the tail were separate from him, he'd be able to call himself an alien Grim Reaper, because it was a scythe blade, and I could tell, if he wanted to hurt us, he would be more dangerous than any ax murderer.  
" Hello," I said. I bet the others were staring at me, but I wasn't noticing. I wasn't staring at this alien. He was amazing. I was more like gaping in awe.  
[Hello.] the alien said. I know, how can an alien with no mouth talk. Think about that. An alien who landed on Earth in a UFO from an obviously superior race technology-wise. Maybe they'd eliminated the need for mouths on their planet. Who knows?  
" Hi," we all said together. That was almost funny. An alien says hello, and all we're saying is 'hi.' There's probably some kind of irony there.  
Then, the alien staggered. I tried to grab him, and Greg was right behind me, but he slipped from our grasp.  
" Great. Our first alien encounter, and we fumble the guy. At least, I think it's a guy," Greg muttered. Then, and my eyes may have been playing tricks on me, since it was late at night, but the alien seemed to smile. It was with the eyes, though. After all, with no mouth, it's a little hard to smile in the human tradition way.  
" Look!" Cassie cried, pointing to a burn that covered the alien's right side. " He's hurt," she said, in her want-to-help-but-they-don't- cover-this-topic-in-biology voice. Okay, okay, I know, leave the jokes to Marco.  
[I know. I am dying,] he said.  
" Can we help? Like, call an ambulance or something?" Marco asked.  
" Marco, think for the first time in your life. If we called, what would we say? 'Hi, we just met an alien, and he's hurt bad.' They'd throw us in the nut house," Greg growled. Then he pulled off his jacket and tried to wrap it around the wound.  
" Jake, gimme your shirt. We tear it up and bandage his wounds," Greg ordered. Greg happens to be one of those guys who, while he's got a tough exterior, he can be real nice. He's actually my only real friend at school. He wants to be a doctor or a singer, and he'd be good at both. He really wanted to help this alien, and so did I.  
[No. I will die. The wound is fatal.]  
" NO!" Jake cried. I was surprised no one else heard him outside of the site. " You can't die! You're the first alien ever on Earth!"  
[No. I am not the first,] the alien said, and it was almost a sigh of sadness.  
" There are others? Like you?" I asked.  
[No. Not like me.] Then, a wave of pain swept through me. I was feeling the alien die. It brought tears to my eyes, and with a life of sadness like I'd endured, that's become hard to do.  
" Then, what are the like?" Greg asked.  
[They are evil. They-] He paused, and this image and these words were burned into my mind forever.  
[They have come to destroy you.] 


	5. Greg

Author's Note: And it came BEFORE the new year! Who knew I could get it out with ONE WHOLE DAY to spare! And now that I've had my moment of silliness, on with the first chapter narrated by our new character.  
  
Chapter 5 Greg  
  
[They have come to destroy you.]  
That was not the way I wanted to learn about aliens on Earth. I mean, I wanted a first contact like they talk about on Star Trek. I'd heard that the next movie for Star Trek was going to be about the first contact between Earth and Vulcan, and that was obviously painless, and not an invasion. But life's not like that, apparently. The thing that shocked me most about the alien's statement, no one questioned it. No one said, 'No way,' or 'You're pulling our legs. This is some kind of alien joke. And not a very funny one at that.' It was as if we knew he was telling us the truth.  
[They are called Yeerks. They are different from us. Different from you even.]  
" Are you telling me there are already aliens on Earth?" Rachel asked.  
[Many are here. Hundreds. Perhaps more.] I wasn't believing this alien. He had to be exaggerating or something. You don't read and watch as much Star Trek or Star Wars as I have without realizing that, while aliens come in all shapes and sizes, any alien can't just arrive on Earth and begin some kind of hostile takeover bid without reporters being all over it.  
" Why hasn't anybody noticed them? I think that it would have been mentioned around at school," Marco said, voicing my opinions.  
[You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They have no body like yours or mine. They live in the bodies of other species. They are...] He trailed off, and Cassie reached to help me bandage his wounds, or correct any miscalculation I'd made.  
Suddenly, he closed his eyes and a bright picture popped into my head. Whatever the picture was, it was not pretty. It was a gray-green slimy thing like a snail without its shell, only bigger, about the size of a rat (No, not Marco.)  
" I'm guessing that was a Yeerk. Either that or a very big wad of slimy chewing gum." Marco, of course.  
[They are almost powerless without hosts. They-]  
Another blast of pain came, straight from the alien. It was like we could feel his pain and his sadness. He knew his time was almost up.  
[The Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as Controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the host's thoughts and feelings. They try to get the host to accept them voluntarily. It is easier that way. Otherwise the host may be able to resist, at least, a little.]  
" What are you saying, it's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something?" Rachel asked. My sister only gets passionate about a few things. Mainly shopping. She was really hoping this alien was going to survive. Cassie and I continued trying to help him, but he was bleeding badly, and I doubted I was going to stop it with the stuff around me.  
The alien looked at Rachel and, almost as if he understood what Invasion of the Body Snatchers were, he did that eye smile again. It was a little eerie.  
[No. They want to control the universe. We had hoped to stop them in orbit of Earth, and never reveal our presence to you. Swarms of their Bug fighters were waiting when our Dome ship came out of Z-Space. We knew of their mother ship, but were unprepared for the powerful Blade Ship they had hidden in on of your moon's craters. We fought. We lost. Now the Yeerks will come here to destroy any sign of my existence,] he finished. We took that in as slowly as possible.  
" How? How can they do that?" Cassie asked.  
[Their Dracon Beams will leave nothing behind but a few molecules of this ship and... this body. I sent a message to my home world. We Andalites fight the Yeerks wherever they go in the universe. My people will send help, but it may take a year, perhaps more, and by then, the Yeerks will have control of this planet. After that, there is no hope. You must tell people. You must warn your planet! Your people!]  
There was another spasm of pain. We knew he was nearly gone.  
" No one will ever believe us," Marco said.  
He was right. They'd basically tell us 'If you've got no proof, you've got nothing.' And if the Yeerks were going to destroy his ship and his body- him, then we would have no way to make people believe us.  
" I don't care if he thinks he'll die. We have to try to help him. We can take him to a hospital. Or maybe Cassie's parents...'  
[There is no time. No time,] the Andalite said, and did the eye smile again, almost ironically. Then his eyes brightened. [Perhaps...]  
" What?" Jake asked.  
[Enter my ship. You will see a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me. Quickly! I have very little time, and the Yeerks will find me soon.]  
We looked at each other. Who was going to go into the ship. Somehow, we all decided it would be Jake.  
" Go ahead," Tobias told him. " I want to stay with him." He knelt beside the Andalite and placed a comforting hand on his narrow shoulder.  
Jake looked at the doorway and then glanced at Cassie. She whispered something to him and smiled. It obviously gave him confidence, since he entered the ship. The Andalite looked at me.  
[Keep your jacket. As I said, the wound is fatal. If you leave your jacket here, it could put you and your family in danger when the Yeerks arrive,] he said. I started to argue, then sighed. I took my jacket off the wound. I looked at the part of it that had touched his injury. The blood from it seemed to sink into the jacket, vanishing.  
[Do not worry. It is a natural reaction to Earth fabrics and Andalite blood,] he said.  
" How do you know that-?" I was interrupted by Jake walking out of the ship with a blue box in his hands.  
" Here's the box," he said.  
[Thank you.]  
" I, um... was that your family? That picture?" he asked.  
[Yes. Most of it.]  
" I'm real sorry."  
[There is something I may be able to do to help you fight the Yeerks.]  
" What?" Rachel demanded.  
[I know that you are young. I know that you have no power with which to resist the Controllers. But I may be able to give you some small powers that may help.] He paused. [I can give you powers that no other human being has ever had.]  
" Powers?" Jake asked.  
[It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have. A technology that enables us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe- the power to morph, to become any other species, any other animal, perhaps even any other person. You will need only to touch a creature, to acquire its DNA pattern, and you will be able to become that creature. It requires concentration and determination, but, if you are strong, you can do it. There are... limitations. Problems. Dangers, even. But there is no time to explain it all... no time. You will have to learn for yourselves. But first, do you wish to receive this power?]  
" He's kidding, right?" I heard Marco ask Jake.  
" No," Tobias said. One word that carried much more meaning.  
" This is nuts. This whole thing is nuts. Yeerks and spaceships and slugs taking over people's brains and Andalites and the power to change into animals? Give me a break," Marco said.  
" Oh, I'll break something," I muttered.  
" It is beyond wired," Jake said.  
" We're off the map of weirdness by now," Rachel said. " But unless we're all just dreaming, I think we'd better deal with this."  
" He's dying," Tobias reminded us.  
" I'll do it," Cassie said.  
" Me too," I jumped in.  
" I think we should all decide together," Jake said.  
" Wait. What's that?" Rachel asked. She was looking up toward the stars. Two pinpoints of bright red light were shooting across the sky.  
[Yeerks. They've come.] 


	6. Rachel

Chapter 6

Rachel

Yeerks! the Andalite said again. The lights were turning and heading for us.

There is no more time. You must decide!

"We have to do this. How else can we fight these Controllers?" Tobias asked.

"Easy: We don't!" Marco cried.

"I'd like more time, but there's no choice. I'm in," I said.

"Yeah. We've got to do this," Greg said.

"Jake?" Cassie asked. Jake looked at the Yeerk ships. They were circling closer, like dogs sniffing for a scent. Then he looked at each of us.

"We have to," Tobias said.

"You're right. We've got no choice," Jake decided.

The each of you, press you hand against one of the sides of the square.

We did. Marco ended up putting his hand in my square as to leave room for the Andalite's hand. There was a tingling when the Andalite placed his hand one the cube. Then, once the tingling passed, he removed his hand.

Go now! Only remember this- never remain in animal form for more than two of your Earth hours. Never! That is the greatest danger of the morphing! If you stay longer than two hours, you will be trapped in that form forever, unable to return to human form.

"Two hours," Jake repeated. The Andalite suddenly was overcome with a different fear. He was staring at the sky with his main eyes.

Visser Three! He comes.

"What?" Jake asked. " What's a Visser? Who's a Visser?"

Go now. Run! Visser Three is here. He is the most deadly of your enemies. Of all Yeerks he alone has the power to morph. The same power you now have. Run!

"No, we'll stay with you," I said, digging my feet to the ground. "Maybe we can help." Even as I said it, I knew we couldn't. It would have been suicide for sure. Again, the alien smiled with his eyes.

No. You must save yourselves. Save yourselves and save your planet! The Yeerks are here. We looked up, and the two lights had been joined by a large black... I guess you'd say a shadow, but it seemed darker than that.

"But how are we supposed to fight these... these Controllers?" I demanded. I mean, he didn't even tell us how this morphing thing works. I got the 'touch and absorb' thing, but, really, what other information did he leave out?

You will find a way. GO! he commanded.

"He's right! Run!" Jake ordered. We ran. I spotted a crumbling wall, and motioned for the others to follow. At some point, I realized that Tobias had stayed behind with the alien, the Andalite. Jake must have realized it too, because he and I both turned back to look at them at the same second. Tobias was scrambling away from the alien, and had almost reached us when a spotlight came on over the alien's ship. We were all away from the ship by this point, thankfully, and the approaching alien ships began to kick up the dirt, erasing our footprints.

"Thank you for small miracles," I heard Greg mutter as we made it behind the wall.

Slowly, these Bug fighters touched down. I could see where they got their name. They were a little bigger than the Andalite fighter, and shaped like legless cockroaches. Ew. There were small windows like eyes on the forward head of the bug. And on either side of the head were two very long, very sharp, serrated spears.

The both of them touched down on either side of the Andalite ship.

"Okay, you can wake me up any time now," Marco muttered. "I've had enough of this dream."

The larger ship began to descend, and I can't begin to tell you the fear I felt when I saw it. I was paralyzed. I couldn't even breathe right.

The ship looked like it was going to crush a rusted earthmover, but at the last second, it just casually fired a beam of red light, destroying the thing.

It looked like an old battle-ax, and the 'handle' had a triangular point on it, which had to be their bridge. This thing was eight or ten times larger than the Bug fighters.

It landed. A door appeared. Cassie took in a deep breath of air, as if she was about to scream. I don't know what stopped her, but I'm glad. And a little envious, since that was more than I could do at the moment.

They leapt from the ship, whirling and thrusting and slicing at the air- creatures that looked like walking weapons. They stood on two bent-back legs, and had two very long arms. On each arm, there were curved horn-blades growing out of the wrist and elbow. There were other blades at their bent-back knees, and two more blades at the end of their tail. They had feet like a T-rex.

But it was the head that was the creepiest, and the scariest. (If you tell anyone I said that, I will hurt you) A neck like a snake, a mouth that was almost a falcon's beak, and, from the forehead, three daggerlike horns raked forward.

"Oh, God," someone muttered. At this point, it might have been me.

Hork-Bajir Controllers. I jumped. The Andalite's words were fainter than before, strained, like someone yelling from far away.

"Did... you guys...?" Jake asked. I nodded.

"Yeah," Greg and I said together.

The Hork-Bajir are a good people, despite their fearsome looks. But they have been enslaved by the Yeerks. Each of them now carries a Yeerk in their head. They are to be pitied.

"Pity. Right. They're walking killing machines. Look at them!" I said.

Our attention was drawn away by a new form that crept out of the Blade ship.

"Oh, God. Oh, God," the same person from before muttered.

Taxxon-Controllers. The Andalite was trying to give us as much information as he could before he died, trying to prepare us for what we were planning to go up against.

Taxxons are evil, the Andalite spat.

"I think I would have guessed that," Marco muttered.

The closest animal to the Taxxons would have to be a centipede. A centipede that was twice as long as a man, and if you tried to hug one, your arms wouldn't even make it halfway around.

Not that you'd WANT to hug one of these guys.

The lower two thirds of their bodies were supported by dozens of tiny legs that moved like a spider, and on the top third, which was held upright, had the same tiny legs, but they were smaller., and had little lobster-claw hands.

The top of them, oh, that was the most disgusting part. They had four eyes, each like a wiggling blob of red Jell-O. And at the end, pointing straight up at the air, was a round mouth, ringed by hundreds of tiny teeth.

Taxxons and Hork-Bajir swarmed out of the Blade ship. And then a Hork-Bajir turned in our direction. With a single bounding step, he was almost right on top of us.


	7. Cassie

Author's Note: Argh! Freaking formatting... Any tips on how to stop it from messing up all the work I've done would be appreciated. And, yes, right now, it's rewriting, but it's just the first book so far, and there's major exposition to get through. I already have a new plot line ready, but it will take a while for me to get there. Stay patient, and if you have a keen eye, you'll already note minor changes.

Oh, and XXMBogan, the Creator only gave them the option to change things from the beginning. They may have wanted to just bring Rachel back, but the option of THAT wasn't available.

Oh, and P.S. Yay me! Getting this chapter finished before a year has passed!

Oh, but I'm lazy...

Chapter 7

Cassie

I was frightened, and frozen with fear. Usually, people just say things like that for attention, but this is the truth.

The Hork-Bajir pointed his weapon around, and jerked his head around, trying to find us.

Silence!> the Andalite warned. Hork-Bajir do not see well in the darkness, but their hearing is excellent.

The Hork-Bajir moved closer still. He was six feet away now, with just the low wall between us. I couldn't believe he couldn't hear my heart pounding. Maybe it didn't know what it was.

If you really thought you were brave, then I think you should be in the same place I was, facing death at the hands of a monster who could possibly turn you into coleslaw in just a couple of seconds.

Then the Andalite spoke again. Courage, my friends.>

And then a warm feeling came over me. I can't really describe it, just tell you that there was less... I wouldn't say fear, since I was still scared out of my wits and still arguing with myself over whether or not this was a dream, but I wasn't panicking.

Finally the Hork-Bajir moved away.

Something else came out of the Blade Ship.

Peaking over the top of the wall, I saw the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons turn to face the Blade ship.

"They're standing at attention," Jake whispered. I glanced over to see him doing the same as me.

"How can you tell?" Marco whispered. "Who knows when a jelly-eyed centipede or a walking salad shooter from hell is standing at attention?"

And then HE appeared.

Visser Three, the Andalite said.

I got it.

Visser Three was an Andalite.

Or rather, Visser Three was an Andalite-Controller.

"What the... Isn't that an Andalite?" Rachel asked.

Only once has a Yeerk been able to take an Andalite body. There is only one Andalite-Controller. That one is Visser Three, the Andalite explained.

Visser Three walked confidently towards the Andalite- the actual Andalite. The Visser was so similar to the Andalite that I couldn't tell them apart at first.

But the Visser FELT different. He felt evil. What's more, it was almost physical, the evil of the Visser.

Well, well,> the Visser said.

My eyes widened and I swear, I nearly died there.

"Can he hear our thoughts?" I asked.

"If he can, we are SO dead, I don't even want to think about it," Rachel whispered.

Unless you direct your thoughts to him, he will not hear you,> the Andalite explained. You hear his thoughts because he is broadcasting for them all to hear. This is a great victory, for both the Yeerks, and himself.> The Andalite's words would have been spat if he were human.

What have we here? A meddling Andalite?> Visser Three looked closely at the Andalite's ship. Ah, but no ordinary Andalite warrior. Prince Elfangor-Sirinal-Shamtul, if I am not mistaken. An honor to finally meet you.> There was something in the Visser's tone that suggested they did already know each other, and was attempting to antagonize the Andalite. You're a legend. How many of our fighters have you shredded? Seven? Or was it eight by the time the battle ended?>

Somehow, I think it was more than eight.

The very last Andalite in this sector of space. Yes, I'm afraid your Dome Ship has been completely destroyed. I watched it burn as it fell into the atmosphere of this little world.>

There will be others,> the Andalite said.

The Visser took a step closer to the Andalite. Yes, and when they come, it will be too late. This world will be mine. My own contribution to the Yeerk Empire. Our greatest conquest. And then, I'll be Visser ONE.>

What do you want with these humans?> the Andalite asked. You have your Taxxon allies. You have your Hork-Bajir slaves. And other slaves from other worlds. Why these people?>

Because there are so many, and they are so weak,> the Visser sneered. Billions of bodies! And they have no idea what's happening. With this many hosts, we can spread throughout the universe, unstoppable! Billions of us. We'll have to build a thousand new Yeerk pools just to raise Yeerks for half of this number of bodies. Face it, Andalite, you have fought well and bravely. But you have lost.>

Visser Three stepped right up to the Andalite. The Andalite's fear swept over me, but rather than cower, he fought the pain of his wound and climbed to his feet. He knew he was going to die. He wanted to die on his feet, looking his enemy in the face.

But the Visser wasn't done taunting his foe. I promise you one thing, Prince Elfangor. When we have this planet, with its rich harvest of bodies, we will move against the Andalite homeworld. I will personally hunt down your family. And I will personally oversee the placement of my most faithful lieutenants in their heads. I hope that they will resist, so that I can hear their minds scream.>

The Andalite struck!

His tail whipped up and over, so fast I didn't really see it. The Visser twisted his head aside. The Andalite's tail blade missed the Visser's head by a bare half-inch. But it sliced into his shoulder. Blood- or something blood-like- sprayed from the wound.

"Yes!" I heard Jake hiss.

"That was awesome," Greg murmured in awe.

The Visser howled in pain.

At the same moment, a blinding beam of blue light shot from the tail of the Andalite's ship. It sliced into the nearest Bug fighter. Hork-Bajir and Taxxons scattered.

Even crouching behind the wall, I could feel a wave of scorching heat. The Bug fighter sizzled and disappeared.

Fire!> the Visser screamed. Burn his ship!>

The night exploded in blinding light. Red beams lanced from the Blade ship and the remaining Bug fighter. The Andalite ship glowed, and, with a strange slowness, disintegrated.

Then, in the flash and glow, I saw... humans, back in the shadows behind the Visser.

"There are people over there," Greg whispered.

"Are they prisoners?" Marco asked.

Take the Andalite. Hold him for me.> My attention returns to the Visser.

Three Hork-Bajir grabbed the Andalite and held him down. Their wrist blades were at his throat, but they knew better than to kill him.

That was Visser Three's honor.

Then we saw why a Yeerk as powerful as Visser Three would inhabit the only captured Andalite body. As we watched, Visser Three began to morph.

His Andalite head grew larger. The four horselike legs merged into two and then expanded, each leg becoming as big around as a redwood tree. The Andalite arms sprouted and became tentacles.

"This isn't real," I told myself. "This isn't real."

In the Visser's hideously bloated head, a mouth appeared. It was filled with teeth as long as your arm, and it grew wider and wider, becoming a monstrous, terrifying grin.

There was nothing left of the Andalite body. A monster was now in the center of the construction site.

The Visser let out a horrible roar which shook the ground.

I covered my ears and whimpered.

The Visser right now made the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons look as harmless as the frozen grasshoppers my Dad would feed to the animals at our barn.

With that thought in my head, I was afraid I'd never see my Dad again.

The Visser reached out with a thick tentacle and grabbed the Andalite by the neck.

"No, no, no," I whispered.

"Don't look," Rachel said. She put her arm around my shoulder and held me close. Then she reached for Tobias and took his hand.

Visser Three lifted the Andalite straight up in the air, tearing him from the grasp of the Hork-Bajir. The Andalite prince struck again and again with his tail, but it did no good against whatever the Visser was.

Visser Three held the Andalite high in the air.

And then, Visser Three opened his mouth wide.


	8. Greg

Chapter 8

Greg

"Oh, God..." I muttered. I shut my eyes and looked away. I couldn't bear watching the creature, this... Well, not really a man in the traditional sense, but you know what mean, but I couldn't bear watching him die for us without doing something.

Of course, if I went in to save him, I'd be Visser Three's dessert. Not the best plan.

No! I heard the Andalite's voice in my head. I looked around, and saw Marco restraining Jake, who was holding a metal pipe. Tobias reached to help Marco, and Rachel and I moved to cover Jake's mouth before he said something stupid- In this case, 'stupid' being anything.

"Shut up, you idiot! You're gonna get us killed!" Marco hissed, as loud as he dared.

"Jake, don't you get it? He doesn't want YOU to die for HIM. He's dying for US!" Cassie whispered. I was relieved as he settled down, but then we looked back at the Andalite, and our relief died.

Visser Three held him high, and then let go of him.

The Andalite fell into the Visser's open mouth.

His cry of pain and despair is still in my head now.

The Hork-Bajir Controllers began to make this huffing sound. Maybe that was their applause. Or laughter. The Taxxon Controllers crowded themselves around the Visser's massive bulk. They stretched themselves up, like a dog begging for a treat, and then I saw why. A piece of the Andalite fell from the Visser's jaws and the nearest Taxxon greedily gobbled it up.

I turned away, not wanting to see any more of this.

Then I heard something strange. Strange because it seemed normal. Human laughter. Human Controllers were laughing like they were at a show.

The Visser slowly regained his Andalite body. Ah, nothing like a good Antarean Bogg morph for... taking a bite out of your enemies.>

The human controllers laughed and the Hork-Bajir huffed.

Marco started to throw up. I don't blame him. I was surprised that the rest of us weren't. But for some reason, the sound caught the attention of the nearest Hork-Bajir.

The head turned. He was perfectly still. So were we.

The Hork-Bajir turned toward us. The near sighted eyes were aimed directly at our little hiding place.

I don't know who bolted first, but in seconds, all six of us were running, getting as far away from the Hork-Bajir as we possibly could. I think that our brains stayed frozen there for a minute, because I didn't even realize I was running until I was about ten feet away from the spot.

"Split up! They can't follow all of us," I heard Jake call.

Marco, Tobias, Cassie, and I all went in different directions. Jake and Rachel are pretty athletic, so it seemed a good idea for them to draw the Hork-Bajir's attention. Rachel agreed, because even as I raced away from the site I could hear her hollering for the Hork-Bajir's attention.

Wow, I didn't know she knew that word.

Tobias and I wound up on the same path. We didn't say anything as we continued running, but instead scrambled out of the construction site and made it back to the mall. It wasn't conscious on our part, but we must have figured that it's safer to head to an area with people. Large groups of people. And also mall cops.

Armed mall cops.

Those Hork-Bajir and Taxxons may be deadly walking weapons, but even they had to get killed by a bullet.

Or, possibly, several.

Dozen.

Tobias and I leaned against a kiosk, gasping for breath. We stood there for a good few minutes, before finally Tobias turned to me.

"Do... Was that real?" he asked. I take a moment to gather my thoughts.

"I have no idea. It certainly wasn't a dream," I said. We stay there for a moment longer, then, together head home. I don't know where Tobias lived, and right now, I just wanted to get home.

If that was a dream, it was the most vivid one I've ever had, and probably ever would have. But since I didn't remember going to sleep, and since the Andalite's last cry was still echoing in my head, I swiftly tossed that idea out.

No, it had to be real.

For some reason, despite the fear of that thought, something else came out of it.

A sense of undeniable... coolness.


	9. Rachel

Chapter 9

Rachel

I don't remember how I escaped at all. I just remember getting home. My mother was not happy. I barely remembered Greg showing up at the mall telling me to get home in like half an hour or something. That had been... an hour ago?

It felt like a lifetime ago.

At some point during Mom's explosion, Greg got home. She unleashed on him too. We both just kind of absorbed it, and didn't say anything other than 'Yes ma'am' and 'Sorry Mom'. She sent us up to our rooms, and I fell onto my bed and instantly fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up to something licking my forehead. I opened my eyes, and see our black and white tabby cat, Charlie, right in my face. I turned over, and moaned slightly. Then last night came rushing back to me. I bolted up, and look around. I'm alive. I'm home. Okay. Good.

My next thought is 'Was it all a dream?'

"No way was it all a dream," Greg said from the doorway.

"Was what?" I ask, trying to make myself seem nonchalant. Greg looked around and shooed Charlie out of the room. Then he closed the door.

"Elfangor. The box. All of it. It wasn't a dream."

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Well, there's the fact that there was a phone call from Jake about ten minutes ago saying that he and Tobias have both morphed," Greg said. I took a moment to process that.

"So, it's all true?"

"I guess so. I haven't tried it yet, though," he said, looking down at the bed sheets. I shook my head.

"What about the... slug things? The... Yeerks?" I asked. He sighed deeply.

"I guess they're real too. Not real comforting, is it?" he said. He was right. It wasn't. He sighed again.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. I figured it was a good idea, to figure out a plan. Before he answered, the phone rang. I heard Mom answering it.

"Rachel! It's Cassie!" she called. I picked up my phone.

"Thanks Mom," I said. Cassie waited until the click of the other line told her that Mom was off.

"It's all real. We can do it," she said, excitedly.

"You mean the thing from last night?" I asked. Cassie sounded a little deflated that she wasn't going to be able to do a whole big speech about how we can morph and how we should because it would help save the world and the animals.

"Yeah. Look, come down here and I can show you," she said. I told her I'd be there in an hour and we hung up.

"So, over to Cassie's in an hour, huh?" Greg said. I nodded and he got off the bed and headed to the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob.

"You remember what the Andalite said? About how Yeerks can take over anyone?" he asked. I nodded my head. "We can't tell Mom about this. Or Jordan. Or Sara. Or Dad. We just can't. We don't know... who..." Greg pursed his lips and looked at me. "We can't trust anyone now, can we?"

I wanted to say something. Something that would be like my regular beat 'em up attitude. But the Andalite's words about how anyone could be a Controller? I knew they were true. I just knew it.

"I guess that's not totally true. We can trust Jake, Cassie, Marco, Tobias... But other than them? No way. It's not something we can do," Greg said. I nodded solemnly. He left and I started getting into one of the outfits I'd bought last night. I don't know how I managed to get it home in all that happened.

I guess life's funny that way.

After I'd finished changing, Greg and I began to walk to Cassie's. About halfway there, a girl on a bike passed us. I couldn't stop myself from thinking /Is SHE one of them/ Everywhere I looked, I saw people. People who could be Controllers. People who could have a Yeerk in their brain.

People who could be the enemy.

For a second, I felt like this was normal, like I'd done this for a long time. But that feeling left as quickly as it came.

This Yeerk thing was making me incredibly paranoid.

We got to Cassie's house, and her Dad said she was out in the barn. We headed around back and opened the door to the barn. We were instantly greeted with a cacophony of animals making various noises.

Cassie's Dad runs the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, which is another way of saying he helps out injured wild animals. Cassie helps him out with helping the animals, and they use their barn as the main area of the Clinic.

"Good, you're here," Cassie said, noticing us.

"Hey, Cass," Greg nodded.

"So, have you..." I started.

"Yeah, I... acquired?" she asked, looking at us. Like we could answer. She shook her head. "It's as good as any other word. I acquired Maisie over there this morning while I was brushing her," she said, motioning to one of the horses.

"You sure?" I asked. Cassie just smiled, and then her face just... BULGED out in front of her. Greg and I leapt back in shock, but she was continuing to change, her hands becoming cloven, and she got on all fours. What clothing was shredded fell to the floor just before she did that.

"Okay, I'm freaked," Greg muttered.

It was at that moment that Marco arrived.

"Did any of you guys check the pa- YIKES!" he yelped, noticing Cassie. I couldn't keep my grin in check.

Within moments, there was a horse standing right in front of us.

I was the first to get my voice back. "Cassie?"

Yes, Rachel?> Cassie asked. She was perfectly calm. As if turning into a horse was like changing a sweater.

"Cassie? Didja notice you're kinda a horse?" Greg asked. Cassie whinnied, and it sounded to me almost like a laugh.

Yes, I have. And actually, this is kinda fun. I wanna go run!> she exclaimed. Marco, meanwhile, was squeezing his eyes, attempting to get a grip on this. Finally, he must have figured that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and just tried to forget the fact that he saw Cassie turn into a horse right in front of him. Instead, he turned to me and Greg.

"Did you guys read the paper this morning?" he asked. Greg and I shook our heads and we read the headlines. And the articles.

"They're saying that the explosions were FIREWORKS?" I cried.

"And they're asking for information on the teenagers who were there last night," Greg said.

Then you know what that means. The Yeerks have control of the papers, Cassie added. Marco is very much freaked.

"Cassie, could you... not do that?" he asked. I turn to her.

"Cass, how's about you go take that run?" I suggested. Cassie apparently didn't need to be told twice.

Five minutes after she started running, Tobias was there, and Jake was making his way up to the barn. I spotted him and threw the paper at him.

"Look," I said, pointing to the article. He looked it over.

"Cool. So the cops know about it now. That's a relief," he said. I shake my head.

"Keep reading," I told him. Finally, he seemed to fully read it.

"But this is a total lie!" he cried.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding! Correct answer. Johnny, tell our contestant what he's won," Marco said.

"Did you read that last paragraph?" Greg asked. Jake read it again.

"They're looking for US," Marco said.

"Why would the police be... I mean, why would they lie?" Jake asked.

"Let's see, Captain Brilliant. Would it maybe be because the cops ARE Controllers?" Marco asked.

"Probably not ALL the cops," Tobias said. Greg shook his head.

"Even one cop is too many. If they can get one, they can get the rest," he said.

"And if the police have been infiltrated by the Controllers, who knows how many others have too? Teachers? People in the government? The newspapers and the TV?" I asked.

"Math teachers, for sure," Marco joked.

We all glanced around nervously, like we expected to see a bunch of Controllers appear and surround us.

"I tried to tell myself it was all a dream," I said. Jake nodded.

"Been there."

We didn't say anything for a while. We were in way, way, WAY over our heads.

"Look," Marco started, "why do we have to deal with this? I say we just forget it. We never talk about it. We never morph. We just deal with our own lives."

"Marco, I halfway agree with you-" Jake didn't get to finish. Marco just went ballistic.

"We could get killed! Don't you get it? You saw what happened to the Andalite. I mean, this is radical stuff, Jake. This is for real. Real! We could all get killed!" He shook his head. Suddenly his voice was quieter. "Look, I think these Controllers are jerks. But if something happened to me... my dad. He wouldn't be able to handle it. You guys can all think I'm a weasel if you want. I don't care. But if I get killed or something, my dad will flat out die. He's only handing in there because of me."

None of us said anything for a moment, and then I spotted Cassie.

"There's Cassie," I said, pointing to her. She made her way over. "Cassie, Greg, and I have been here for a while. She's really good at this. Look how fast she can do it."

Cassie started to demorph. Her big brown eyes became slightly smaller. The long muzzle became a human mouth.

She smiled. "Hey kids."

This time, Marco seemed to register that it was real. He sat down. Hard.

"It's cool. It's just Cassie," Jake said, fairly calmly.

As she continued demorphing, I noticed that she'd been wearing a skintight blue aerobic outfit.

She stayed half-horse, half-human. She reminded me of the Andalite.

"Jeez, Rachel. You're right. Cassie is good," Jake said.

Suddenly, there was the sound of tires on gravel behind us.

We spun around. Down the gravel and dirt road was a single black and white car.

"Cops!" Tobias cried.


End file.
